Putin steals the show at China’s new Silk Road summit with impromptu piano performance

Russian President Vladimir Putin has overshadowed China’s multi-billion dollar efforts to resurrect the ancient Silk Road by showing off his piano chops.While waiting to meet with Xi Jinping at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse on the sidelines of Beijing’s ongoing “One Belt, One Road” summit, Putin sat down at a grand piano and played a couple of tunes from his childhood for the cameras. Russian state media reports that their “virtuoso-in-chief” played “Evening Song” by Vasily Solovyov-Sedoi and “Moscow Windows” by Tikhon Khrennikov.

On Chinese social media, the reviews have been a tad underwhelming. While many Chinese netizens praised Putin as a “great leader,” they were less impressed with his skills on the piano. “It sounds like crap,” wrote one Weibo user. “Just because you can play the piano, doesn’t mean you should,” commented another. Others argued that that poor performance wasn’t Putin’s fault, contending that the piano was only there for decoration and was out of tune.According to The New York Times, Chinese officials were not pleased with Putin for trying to steal attention away from their efforts at international infrastructure building. Not to mention upstaging their own Silk Road inspired gala performances for world leaders inside the Great Hall of the People.Of course, nobody does lavish galas quite like Beijing. Watch a clip below: